


you're the constellation in my night sky

by anendtoallthings



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Tattoos, ChanLix, Fluff, M/M, Opposites Attract, hyunin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-12-12 04:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20980706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anendtoallthings/pseuds/anendtoallthings
Summary: hwang hyunjin has a good life-- technically. he's doing something he loves and getting paid more than well for it, and he has a great apartment that he shares with his best friend.he didn't realize exactly what was missing until he met yang jeongin.(sweet fluffy love at first sight tattoo artist au)





	you're the constellation in my night sky

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to my lovely secret beta reader for catching all my little mistakes in this 🖤 I don't know what I would do without you. after author reveals I will add their name here so please check back cause they deserve lots of love for putting up with my grumpy self!

"There we go," Hyunjin said, wiping his brow with the part of his arm that wasn't covered by thick black latex. "All done! What do you think?"

The girl stood up, twisting around to look at her thigh in the mirror. A sinewy black snake curled around her leg, each scale detailed and shaded with care. She grinned. 

"I love it," she said. When she licked her lips, a flash of silver shone on her tongue. "As always." 

On second glance, her body— the parts that were exposed, anyway— were covered in bold, black designs, all similar in style to the fresh snake. All done by him.

Hyunjin flushed with pride. He didn't want to brag or anything, but it was like this with all of his clients. His books were so full, Chris had to _ force _ him to take a vacation this year. 

To be honest, he had no idea how he ended up this lucky. He'd only come to LA for a dance program by chance when he was eighteen— and here he was, three years later, with 329k followers on Instagram, a two-bedroom studio in Silver Lake (ok, shared with Chris, but _ still), _ and his designs decorating the bodies of over a thousand different people. A _ thousand. _

And it was all because Chris saw some stupid doodles on his Starbucks receipt. 

"Wow, did you draw that?"

The man standing in front of him looked exactly like Hyunjin expected someone who lived in LA to look. Bleach-blonde hair tucked under a plain black cap, with black shorts and a plain back tee adorned with a few choice silver chains around his wrist and neck. The clothes looked like they could either be from the local Goodwill or straight off the rack from Versace— it was hard to tell. Hyunjin was starting to think that was the point.

"Uh, yes?" Hyunjin responded cautiously. It seemed like a stupid question, considering the skull was on the corner of his receipt and he was the only person standing at the high-top table. 

The man smiled widely at him, and Hyunjin noticed just how attractive he was. His face was unique— a large, prominent nose, and one of his eyes was slightly smaller than the other so it looked like he was on the verge of winking. But both of those things suited him, as did the black septum piercing and the heavy, shimmering eye shadow on his lids. 

"That's so cool," the man said, shifting closer to get a better look. "I've never seen anyone do eye sockets in a skull like this. It's almost like a cross between traditionalism and a scientific diagram, you know?"

The words were a rush of complicated English. Too complicated for his untrained ears. 

"Sorry… what?"

The other man peered closer at him. "Are you Korean?"

Hyunjin nodded, and the man's smile got even wider. He repeated his comment, in near-perfect Korean this time, and even though Hyunjin had been well told not to talk to strangers _ (especially _in LA), something about this strangely enthusiastic and open man made Hyunjin want to trust him.

That day, Hyunjin skipped dance class for the first time in his life. He and Chris spent two hours at the cafe, and three months later, Hyunjin had dropped out of the dance program to apprentice at Chris's studio. 

People _ loved _his work. As Hyunjin learned more and more about the world of body art, he realized what Chris said was true— Hyunjin had a unique style, one that blended a sharp, almost mechanical eye for detail with traditional subjects and bold, black linework. 

It wasn't what he had first imagined when he got to LA, dance bag in hand— but he wouldn't change it for the world.

"Hey, Jinnie, clean up your space before you go home today, yeah? Your desk buddy will be here tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, _ what?" _Hyunjin snapped his head up from his sketchbook. "Desk buddy? What the fuck do you mean, desk buddy?"

Chris just stared at him. "Oh. Oh, fuck. Did I forget to tell you?"

A third voice chimed in from the front of the shop. "You definitely forgot to tell him, babe."

"Don't call me babe at work!"

Felix rolled his eyes. "Are you still trying to pretend like we're not dating?" His gaze flicked lazily over to Hyunjin. "Hey Hyunjinnie, did you know that we're dating?"

Now it was Hyunjin's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah, I could hear you two last night. And the night before that. And—"

"Yeah, okay, okay, I get it. Jeez." Chris ran a hand through his fluffy blonde curls. "Anyway, we have a guest artist flying in tonight. They'll be here for a couple of weeks and they're using the station next to yours, so move all your junk!"

Hyunjin fake-gasped, putting one hand on his heart and spreading the other protectively over his collection of art and photography books. "This isn't _ junk," _ he said dramatically. "It's my _ inspiration." _

"Well, your inspiration needs to move." Chris glanced back at Felix, who was leaning back in the receptionist's chair up front, arms stretched up towards the ceiling. Hyunjin didn't miss how Chris's eyes lingered on the now-exposed strip of tan skin of Felix's midriff. "Babe, are you ready to go get dinner? We have to be quick so we can head to the airport."

"Don't call me _ babe _ at work," Felix mocked, before springing to his feet with a wide grin and skipping over to join them. He tossed the shop keys to Hyunjin. "Lock up for me?" he pleaded, batting his eyelashes. Up close like this, it was easy to get lost in the sea of freckles that dotted Felix's face— and the tiny little glints from all of Felix's piercings. He had four in his left ear, three in his right, one in his eyebrow, and a small little labret stud. Hyunjin would never get over how well the piercings complimented Felix's elf-like face. 

"Fine," he grumbled. 

Felix beamed at him, rising up on his tip-toes to peck Hyunjin on the cheek. "Thanks a bunch!" he said sweetly. "Mwah!"

And just like that, the two of them were gone, leaving Hyunjin on his own… like always. 

It's not like he was jealous of them. He was _ happy _ for them. Really. Chris functioned better when he was in love, and Felix had arrived in LA with no one— no job, no place to live, no support from his parents. Just his dream of becoming a lyricist. 

He and Chris were lucky to have each other. 

… But sometimes Hyunjin wished he had someone, too.

  


"Morning, sleepyhead!"

Felix's bright-eyed, smiling face greeted Hyunjin from the front desk at eleven AM the next day. He looked annoyingly chipper for someone who had stayed up much later than Hyunjin, who said as much.

"Well, you're old and decrepit, and I have the fresh energy of youth on my side."

"Fuck off, you're like six months younger than me," Hyunjin grumbled. 

Felix just leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand and staring up at Hyunjin with a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. _ He's too fucking pretty, _ Hyunjin thought moodily. _ It's unfair. _"Why don't you just go get settled in? I think you'll forget all about whatever stick you have up your ass the second you get back there, you grumpy old man." He winked. 

_ "Stupid brat," _ Hyunjin mumbled to himself as he walked towards his station. He wouldn't be _ quite _ so bitter about it, except for the fact that it was _ Felix _ who had kept him up in the first place. Or more precisely, Felix's _ voice. _ He didn't realize Felix's voice could even go that high. "Ugh," he spat, shaking his head to rid himself of the memory.

"Are you talking to me…?"

Hyunjin's head jerked up, and for a second he thought he'd walked into the wrong building. 

Standing before him, at the station he'd cleaned just last night, was the brightest, most adorable-looking boy he'd ever seen in his life. (And yes, he _ had _seen Lee Felix before, thank you very much.)

This guy looked like he could have stepped straight off of Takeshita Street in Harajuku. The first thing Hyunjin noticed was his hair— it was a pale, peachy pink color that framed his face in perfectly messy waves. Large round glasses (lensless, Hyunjin's useless brain decided to notice) sat low on his defined nose, and he was dressed in an oversized pink hoodie with some cute character on the front that Hyunjin didn't recognize. The hoodie hung on his small frame, making him look tinier than he already was, and at the bottom of his faded jeans were plain white Converse with rainbow laces.

And he was currently looking at Hyunjin with a confused frown on his face.

Hyunjin snapped back to reality. "Shit, no— sorry, oh my god. I was talking about— I mean, nevermind. Um. I'm Hyunjin?" He cringed inwardly at his own awkwardness, but the boy in front of him just smiled.

And oh, god. His fucking _ smile. _

It was like his whole face lit up, eyes forming into two crescent moons and his smile wide and fox-like. Hyunjin melted on the spot. 

"I'm Jeongin," the Technicolor boy said. "Or I.N. on social media. Are you on Instagram?" Jeongin blinked up at Hyunjin through his glasses, pushing them up on his nose. 

Hyunjin realized he'd been staring when Jeongin's smile started to fade to a look of concern. _ Idiot, _ he screamed silently at himself. _ Stop being such a panicked gay and at least _ ** _try _ ** _ to seem like a functional human being! _

He fumbled his phone out of his back pocket, swiping up to unlock it and tapping over to Insta. He flipped the phone around and held it out to Jeongin, his own profile up on the screen. 

When Jeongin saw it, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "Oh my god, _ you're _ HHJ★SOUL?!" 

"Uh, yeah." Hyunjin ran his hand through his hair nervously. "It's my initials. Hwang Hyunjin. And I'm from Seoul." 

Jeongin grabbed Hyunjin's hands. "You're Korean! I had no idea! That's so cool. I knew Channie-hyung is, obviously, but I didn't think his whole studio was. And then I met Yongbokkie-hyung at the airport last night, too, and—"

_ "Yongbokkie?" _

Jeongin paused, confused. "Yeah. Pe, no— Felix-hyung?" He stumbled on the difficult English name. 

Hyunjin craned his neck towards the front of the shop. "Yongbok-ah!" he called. 

Felix's head whipped around. His gaze was furious. "Hwang Hyunjin, don't you dare—"

"Why didn't you tell me you had a Korean name?" Hyunjin shouted gleefully. "That's the cutest thing I've ever heard. _ Yongbokkie!" _

Felix groaned in frustration and it was then that Hyunjin noticed the worry in Jeongin's eyes. 

"Ah, hyung, sorry, I didn't know—" the boy said, wringing his hands together. He had nice hands— thin and delicate and bony, with long, pretty fingers. His nails were cotton-candy pink.

Felix was still looking daggers at Hyunjin, but when he answered Jeongin his voice was smooth and controlled. "No, sweetie, you're fine." Then he switched to English. "_ This is what I get for being nice. _Babe!"

Chris answered back from somewhere in the back of the shop. "What?"

"Tell Hyunjinnie not to call me Yongbok!"

Hyunjin could hear Chris's sigh from all the way out here. "Hyunjin, be a sweetheart and don't make my boyfriend mad, okay? I'm trying to get laid tonight."

At his words, Felix grinned at Hyunjin, looking very much like a smug, satisfied cat. 

"This is completely unfair," Hyunjin whined. "Like _ one _night would even make a difference to you two!"

He heard a nervous twittering beside him, and looked back over to see Jeongin with a faint blush on his cheeks, hand ruffling his own hair. "You guys are all really close, huh?" Jeongin asked. "That's nice." His hands fluttered. "I'm kind of the odd one out back home."

Hyunjin couldn't believe him. How could anyone so friendly and adorable not be the center of attention anywhere he went? He almost blurted that out, but stopped himself. "Why?" he said instead.

Jeongin bounced on the balls of his feet, pushing his glasses up again. "I'm younger than them, mostly. And my style is kinda… different."

Now that he mentioned it, Hyunjin realized he didn't see any tattoos on the pink-haired boy. He was wearing long clothes, sure, but most tattoo artists are kind of… obvious. Hyunjin himself had designs on the back of both his hands, and one that crept up above the neckline of his shirt. 

"What kind of work do you do?" he asked, genuinely curious now. "Sorry, I should have looked you up earlier, but Chris didn't tell me you were coming until last night."

In response, Jeongin beamed at him, and Hyunjin felt his pulse quicken. "Here," Jeongin said, thumbs flying over his phone screen. "I DM'd you."

Hyunjin's phone remained silent. He had Instagram notifications turned off. As he was trying to tab over to his DMs, Felix appeared in front of him and shoved something unceremoniously into his hands. The blonde boy then turned and gave the same thing to Jeongin, much more politely.

"Busy day today," Felix chirped. "We open in ten. Jeongin, I'll be around to translate, okay? And let Hyunjin know if you need anything."

"Okay! Thanks, Yong— I mean, Felix-hyung."

Hyunjin couldn't help himself. "Thanks, Yongbok-ah!" 

_ "Chris!" _

Hyunjin was good at what he did. He always gave his full attention to his clients and the work he did on them— but today, he'd never been more eager to finish each piece. Because in between his customers, he got to watch Jeongin.

Right after his first appointment, he'd snuck away to the bathroom to finally check the other boy's account. 

  


He actually cooed out loud. Of _ course. _

Hyunjin had never really looked into color tattoos. It just wasn't something that interested him— until now. Now that he was here, scrolling through Jeongin's gallery of cute, colorful works, he saw the appeal of them for the first time in his life. 

He clicked the _ follow _button instantly. And for the rest of the day, whenever his chair was empty, his eyes were on Jeongin.

The guest artist's clients were mostly cute and stylish young people. Mostly girls. It was a much different clientele than the shop usually had, what with Hyunjin's classic style and Chris's street art style. (To put it nicely, their usual customers wore a lot more black.) Jeongin didn't seem to speak much English, because Felix was by his side for most of the day, acting as an interpreter. Jeongin's clients also came and went fairly quickly— his pieces seemed to be mostly small, quick designs, whereas Hyunjin sometimes went the entire day only working on two different people. 

It was just _ different. _Everything about this Jeongin person was different.

Hyunjin liked different.

  
  


"Good job today, guys." Chris clapped both Jeongin and Hyunjin on the shoulder, a tired smile on his face. "Do you wanna g—"

Felix interrupted him in a rush. "Uh, babe, actually I'm not feeling so well. Do you think we could just go home? Raincheck on the welcome party?"

Chris's eyebrows drew together in concern, and he reached out to feel Felix's forehead. "You don't feel hot," he said. "Is it your stomach?"

Felix reddened, but he nodded. "Yeah, it's acting up again. I think I just need to rest a bit." He looked pointedly at Hyunjin. "Jinnie, do you think you could take Innie out for us instead?"

Hyunjin caught on instantly._ God bless you, Felix Lee, you bratty little angel. _"Sure," he said. He turned to Jeongin. "You must be tired, though. Are you up for dinner?"

The other boy pushed his glasses up again and broke into a smile. It seemed to be his natural state of being— every time Hyunjin looked over at him today, a pretty smile had been dancing on his lips. 

"I'm okay! I don't usually get jetlag." Just then, his stomach let out a loud gurgle. He chuckled. "And I guess I'm pretty hungry."

"Cool!" Hyunjin said, way too enthusiastically. "My favorite place is a few blocks away. Let's go."

  


"This place is so you," Jeongin said, in between mouthfuls of California roll. 

Hyunjin laughed. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just cool. Very… ah, there's a word in English. _ Hipster?" _

The word sounded so cute in Jeongin's accent that Hyunjin wasn't even bothered by it. "Am I a hipster?"

"You're cool," Jeongin said easily, and Hyunjin wondered how he could just say things like that without even thinking about it. "And trendy." He sat up straighter in his chair and his eyes brightened. "You have an _ insane _number of followers! I've been following you since I met Channie-hyung at that expo last year. Your designs are really amazing, hyung."

A blush crept over Hyunjin's cheeks, and he started waving his hands. "No no no, I'm not that good, really."

Jeongin grabbed his hands. At his touch, a shiver ran through Hyunjin's body, and his hands started to get clammy. _ Fuck fuck fuck he's holding my hands I'm gonna _ ** _die. _ **

"You are!" the other boy said. His fingers traced the small serpent that curled around Hyunjin's left middle finger. "You did this one yourself, right? I can tell. It's because your style is so unique." 

Jeongin's pink nails contrasted with the dark ink on Hyunjin's hands so well, and for a moment he just stared down at them. It was a pretty picture— Hyunjin's large, inked hand framed by Jeongin's slim, bare fingers. And then he realized again that a pretty boy was holding his hand, and immediately became so embarrassed he pulled back.

"Aha, ha…" he laughed nervously. "If you say so." _ Hwang Hyunjin, pull yourself together. _"Um, I checked out your work today, too. It's really cute."

Jeongin's face lit up. "Yeah? Thanks! I love cute."

"I can tell," Hyunjin said with a laugh. "When I saw you this morning, I thought I'd walked into the wrong studio. You look like you're straight out of a cartoon, or something."

"Yeah, people have been giving me funny looks all day," Jeongin said with a pout. "Am I that out of place here?"

Hyunjin plucked a cut of sashimi from the long plate in the middle of the table. He'd ordered a variety of expensive cuts of fish (telling himself it was to show hospitality, but knowing it was really him trying to impress the cute boy), but Jeongin had opted for a California roll instead. "It's so _ American," _he'd said. "I have to try it!" So Hyunjin was left to finish off the order himself.

"Guys don't usually dress cute here," Hyunjin answered after he finished chewing. "Or wear makeup." He fiddled with his bangs. "Now that I think about it, I'm totally bareface right now and I'm kind of embarrassed. I stopped wearing makeup after I moved here."

"No, don't be embarrassed! You don't need it," Jeongin said enthusiastically, pushing his glasses up on his nose again. "Maybe I'll go bareface too. I'm totally breaking out, though…"

"You'd be cute either way," Hyunjin blurted out before he could stop himself. _ Shit. _He shoved a piece of sashimi in his mouth to cover his embarrassment, and suddenly became incredibly interested in the wood grain of the table. 

"Thanks, hyung," Jeongin said with an easy smile. He didn't seem embarrassed at all. 

Hyunjin suddenly felt way out of his league. He never dated when he lived in Korea, and after moving to LA he'd only had hookups here and there. Mostly clients who hit on him; who were already interested in Hyunjin and let him know it. He'd never felt like this before. 

The thought made him uncomfortable, so he did what he always did when he felt awkward. He talked.

"Uh, so! Do you have any tattoos?"

Jeongin's mouth was full of food, so he just nodded eagerly. Everything he did, he did with _ energy. _ Wordlessly, he held out his right hand, lowering his pointer finger to display the side of his middle finger. Written along the skin in rainbow letters was the word _ S U N S H I N E, _ followed by a tiny little sun. Jeongin gulped down his food, and said, "This was my first one. It's still my favorite. Jihyo-noona did it for me two years ago. It's her nickname for me now." He flipped his hand over to show his wrist. A tiny red heart sat just below his thumb joint. "My friend from Malaysia did this one."

He set his chopsticks down and then pulled back the sleeve of his left arm. "I did this one myself just before I left, so it's still a little irritated." It was a bright pink horizontal line straight across the inside of his arm with a blue sparkle at the center, accentuated by smaller little dots and sparkles. 

"Oh, I saw that one on your insta! I didn't know it was on your own arm."

"Yeah, I like to do a lot of my own tattoos! It's like, almost a sketchbook or something, you know?" Jeongin's thumb ran back and forth over the _ SUNSHINE _tattoo. "They remind me of where I was at that exact moment I wanted to make that mark. Oh, like this one—" 

Jeongin brushed his hair away from his left ear and leaned in close to Hyunjin across the table. On the outer edge of his ear there were five little stripes, making a rainbow. It couldn't have been more than one centimeter long. Hyunjin reached out towards it, stopping himself just before he touched the other boy's skin.

"It's a pride flag, kind of," Jeongin explained. He let his hair fall back into place. "I got it last year when I finally came to terms with labeling myself queer." 

Hyunjin sucked in a breath. He'd kind of assumed, but to hear confirmation from Jeongin's own mouth made his pulse race. _ Cute _ ** _and_ ** _ queer. I'm done for, _he thought. 

Jeongin looked at him, concerned. "Sorry, does that make you uncomfortable? My parents say I'm too straightforward sometimes."

"No, no, not at all," Hyunjin said in a rush. "I like it." His cheeks reddened. "Your tattoo, I mean. Maybe I should get one of my own."

Jeongin looked at him then, and broke out into a smile. "Yeah? I could do it for you before I leave, if you want."

Hyunjin smiled back. "I'll think about it. Thanks, Jeongin."

Jeongin's smile beaming at him across a table full of ootoro and California rolls was something Hyunjin thought he would probably never forget.

00:34

**tattoocrew (3)**

_ brat: _how'd the date go

_ jinnie: _i love u bro

_ brat: _wow are you drunk

_ jinnie: _he's cute I get nervous ok

_ jinnie: _& im not dufbj 

_ jinnie: _drunk

_ brat: _I knew you would like him

_ brat: _we picked him up from the airport and I was like yup. this is how jinnie dies

_ jinnie changed brat's name to ynogbokkie _

_ ynogbokkie: _I hate you so much

_ ynogbokkie: _you didn't even spell it right

_ jinnie: _tiredddd. passing out now. 

_ jinnie: _..,.. and thx 

_ ynogbokkie changed ynogbokkie's name to yongbokkie _

_ jinnie: _🖤

  


"Who's the new kid?"

Yeji was looking back at Jeongin's workspace from the front counter, fingers splayed out over the new sketch she'd brought in to go over with Hyunjin. Normally he didn't like working from other people's sketches, but his and Yeji's styles worked well together. Plus, she was one of his regulars— her first ever tattoo had actually been Hyunjin's first paid piece, and they were about the same age. Now, they were something almost like friends.

"That's I.N.," Felix chirped, looking up from his notebook. "He's guesting from Korea. Isn't he cute?"

Yeji squinted. "He doesn't _ look _ like a tattoo artist."

"His work is really good," Hyunjin said, suddenly defensive. "His color inks are some of the clearest I've ever seen."

The girl wrinkled her nose. "Color? No thanks."

"No, seriously," Hyunjin pressed. He pulled out his phone. 

"Okay, that's pretty cute," Yeji said reluctantly.

"It's kind of your style," Hyunjin added. Yeji was fond of little accents like dots and geometric shapes in her pieces. "Just in color."

She stared at Jeongin for a moment longer, then turned back to Felix. "His name is on your site, right?"

Felix nodded without looking up. "Guest artist section. Here's only here for three more weeks, though. Schedule's pretty full, too." Then he smiled his people-pleasing smile and met Yeji's eyes. "We could make arrangements for you, though. Always."

She snorted. "I'm never getting color. Thanks, though, Lixie." She turned back to Hyunjin. "So anyway, for this next one, I was thinking—"

He didn't hear her though. His mind was focused on what Felix had just said. 

_ Three more weeks. _

  
  


"How could you only book him for four weeks?!" 

Hyunjin's whine rang out through their apartment and Chris winced. 

"Four weeks is a long time, Jinnie. A whole month away from your home, your friends…"

Hyunjin pouted. "How am I supposed to get him to like me in just three more weeks?" He was sprawled out on the floor of their living room, rolling around on the sheepskin rug. "We haven't gone out since that first night and then the welcome party. What does he _ do _every night?"

"He told me he likes shopping," Felix piped up from his spot in Chris's lap on the couch. "He's been going to famous shopping spots around the city." He giggled. "Maybe you could take him out and buy him stuff? Those places are expensive."

"Felix, don't be weird," Chris groaned. "Hyunjin, do _ not _try to date him by offering to be his sugar daddy."

Hyunjin's card was already halfway out of his wallet, but he slid it back sadly. "Well then what do I do?!"

"Hyunjinnie, you're twenty-one. And you're gorgeous. Do you really need dating advice?" Felix's words stung, regardless of the compliment.

See, everyone thought things were easy for Hyunjin. Dating, getting a job, getting clients— everyone thought it was _ easy, _just because he had a pretty face. 

But a pretty face only gets you so far. After people get tired of looking at your face, they start to look deeper.

_ "Ughhhh," _Hyunjin groaned. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "This is the worst."

Suddenly his vision was blocked by freckles. It was Felix, looking down at him. Tiny hands smushed Hyunjin's cheeks, making him giggle against his will. "You're so sad and lonely," Felix cooed, moving Hyunjin's cheeks around. "It's cute."

"Fuck off, brat."

Felix drew his hands away and sat back. "You know, the watermelon festival is this weekend. You could take him to that."

"But the watermelon festival is stupid."

The blonde boy _ tsk' _d at him. "Yeah, but he doesn't know that. Tourists love local festivals." Felix waved his hand in the air. "Buy him cotton candy, or whatever."

Hyunjin sat up. "You know, that's not a bad idea," he said, chewing on his lip. "There's a lot of local restaurants and stuff that have booths there. And vendors too. Maybe I can tell him it's a good chance to buy some souvenirs."

Felix patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, exactly. See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

  
  


Hyunjin stood next to Jeongin's station, wringing his hands nervously. Jeongin was bent over working on a stencil and hadn't noticed him yet, and he was starting to feel creepy.

He cleared his throat and Jeongin jumped.

"Oh, my god," Jeongin said, hand on his heart. "How long have you been standing there? I totally didn't notice you."

"Uh, not long," Hyunjin lied. "Hey, uh. What are you doing this weekend?"

Jeongin hummed, brushing his bangs back with his pinky finger. His peach hair was straight today, and parted down the middle. "I was gonna go to Hollywood," he said. "I know it's kinda lame, but I wanted to see the star walk."

"Oh," Hyunjin said. All of his hopes deflated. "Sounds cool." He nodded his head, hands in his pockets, and wished the ground would open up to swallow him whole. 

"Unless," Jeongin said, "you wanted to do something?"

Hyunjin stared at him. The younger boy was smiling up at him, head tilted. 

"Uh, wow, haha," Hyunjin said, stumbling over his words. "Yeah, actually— there's a, um. A festival? Happening this weekend." Hyunjin looked down at his feet. "It's not that cool, but there's a lot of local restaurants and stuff, and—"

"I'd love to go," Jeongin said. 

"What? Oh— okay, yeah. Cool." Hyunjin's heart was beating like crazy and he wiped his palms on his jeans. "It's on Saturday. I can meet you at your hotel at like, two? Is that good?"

Jeongin nodded, beaming. "Two is good."

"Two it is," Hyunjin said. He didn't know how he was still standing. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, then." And he turned to go, but—

"Hey, Hyunjin-hyung."

Hyunjin stopped in his tracks. "Yeah?" He wondered if Jeongin could hear how fast his heart was pounding. He fucking hoped not.

"Is this a date?"

Hyunjin's entire face turned scarlet. That's what it felt like, at least. "A d—" He gulped. _ Pull yourself together. You can do this. _ "Yeah," he answered. "It is."

Jeongin grinned.

"Good."

21:24

**tattoocrew (3)**

_ jinnie: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH _

21:52

_ fake dad: _sorry we were busy

_ fake dad: _what happened????

_ yongbokkie: _you were busy, I was very relaxed ;)

_ yongbokkie: _but yeah what happened?

21:58

_ jinnie: _u guys are so gross

_ jinnie: _also chris it's weird for u to be dad in this chat now

_ jinnie: _unless yall are into that

_ jinnie: _no judge

_ yongbokkie changed fake dad's name to sugardaddy _

_ sugardaddy: _wtf lix no

_ sugardaddy changed sugardaddy's name to chris _

_ yongbokkie: _boring 

_ yongbokkie: _w/e JINNIE TELL US WTF HAPPENED ALREADY

_ jinnie: _i have a date ;)

_ jinnie: _with JEONGIN 

_ jinnie: _ON SATURDAY

_ yongbokkie: _OMG I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT

_ yongbokkie: _yeaaaaah boiiiiii 

_ chris: _he just said that out loud btw

_ chris: _congrats jinnie :^) happy for you bro

_ yongbokkie changed jinnie's name to not gonna die alone _

_ not gonna die alone: _have i said i hate u yet today

_ yongbokkie: _ye like six times

_ not gonna die alone: _make it seven

_ yongbokkie: _ love you too jinnie baby 💖

At one forty-five the next day, Hyunjin stood in the lobby of the Starlite, adjusting and re-adjusting his hair. He was wearing his favorite outfit: a plain white _ I ♥ NY _ shirt, tucked into ripped black jeans and his worn combat boots. But he still felt self conscious. He hoped he wouldn't start sweating.

"You're early!"

Jeongin's voice rang out behind him, and when Hyunjin turned around, his jaw actually dropped. 

Jeongin was wearing wide, short-ish denim shorts, belted with a faded leather belt and a large pink tee tucked into the waist. His hair was curly again today, and mostly hidden under— get this— a _ fucking beret. _Hyunjin felt faint. He'd never seen a guy wearing a beret before, and decided on the spot that it was his favorite look in the entire world. 

But that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. The other thing was Jeongin's arms— or the left one, anyway. It was covered from wrist to sleeve in an array of tiny little colorful tattoos.

It wasn't a full sleeve, not exactly, since it didn't seem to be one coherent design. It was more like… 

Like a sketchbook.

A sketchbook where somebody had filled in the space with little doodles, and somehow it all came together to make something beautiful. Just from the first glance, Hyunjin spotted strawberries, hearts, crescent moons, triangles and circles and filled-in dots— and plenty of sparkles.

"Wow," he breathed. He couldn't help it. "Jeongin, wow."

The other boy laughed. "Is that a wow at my tattoos? Or me in general?"

"Everything. Just— can I see them up close?"

Jeongin nodded and bounded up to him, stopping just in front of Hyunjin and holding out his arm.

Hyunjin forgot to be shy as he gently took Jeongin's left arm in his hands, turning it this way and that and taking in all of the little details. "I've never seen anything like this," he said in awe. "Did you design everything?"

"It's mostly mine and Jihyo-noona's designs. A few from some artists I like, too."

Hyunjin finally realized that he was touching Jeongin's skin and snapped his hands back to his sides. He laughed awkwardly and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "I feel like you're more dressed up than me," he said, changing the subject.

Jeongin shrugged. "Well, it's a date. I want you to think I'm cute."

Heat bloomed in Hyunjin's cheeks. And his chest, and his ears, and everywhere else it was possible to blush. "You don't have to try for me to think you're cute," he said shyly. Then he decided to be a little brave, and say what was on his mind. "How do you just say things like that?" he asked. "Without being embarrassed or worried or anything?"

The peach-haired boy just hummed, and slipped his arm through Hyunjin's. As they walked towards the street, he spoke. "I spent a long time being afraid of saying what I wanted to say. But then I realized I would be happier if I just said it. And if people didn't like it, then I was probably better off not having them in my life anyway."

And Hyunjin just stared. Because how could he respond to that? He was still stuck there— stuck worrying about what people would think, worrying about every word before he said it. The only thing he was ever sure about was his work. 

Jeongin noticed Hyunjin had stopped moving and turned to look at him. "Hyung?" 

"Sorry," Hyunjin said. He took a few quick steps to catch up. "Hey. I've thought about it, and— I think I do want that tattoo. The one you have on your ear. If the offer is still on the table, that is."

Because maybe that was the first step. He wasn't like Jeongin. Not yet. 

But maybe he could be, one day.

Jeongin's smile when he answered was like the tattoo on his finger. Pure sunshine. 

"Yeah," he said. "I'd love to."

The next few weeks passed quicker than Hyunjin would have liked. Jeongin did his tattoo— Hyunjin chose to get it on the back of his right pinky knuckle. It was his first color piece ever, and Hyunjin thought he might be addicted. Both to Jeongin's designs, and the feeling of Jeongin's steady, slender hand working on his skin. 

And Hyunjin wasn't the only one.

"Jinnie!" Yeji called out, skipping into the studio. She was hiding her arm behind her back. "There's a new man in my life," she said dramatically. Then she held her arm out with a flourish, brandishing her wrist in Hyunjin's face. And there, right in the middle of Hyunjin's bold, black ink sleeve design, was a single pink sparkle. 

"I'm in love," Yeji said, dead serious. "Please don't let this boy go back to Seoul."

Hyunjin rested his chin on his hand and sighed. "Yeji, you have no idea how much I feel you right now."

She winked at him knowingly. "Oh, I think I have a _ tiny _idea. Why do we always have the same taste in people, huh?"

Hyunjin glared at her. "Hey, you got Ryujin," he complained. "Innie is mine."

Yeji raised an eyebrow at him. "Nicknames already? I guess I can't compete with that." She flashed him a friendly grin to show she was only kidding, then shouldered her bag. "Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and show you, since you were out while I got it done. I'm serious though— I'm low-key tempted to visit him in Seoul."

"You and me both."

And he was. They hadn't talked about it, but ever since the watermelon festival, he and Jeongin had spent almost every single night together. Hyunjin took him around to see the best that LA had to offer, from his favorite local restaurants to the cringey tourist traps that Jeongin seemed to love. (And if Hyunjin happened to have his card ready before Jeongin could even pull out his wallet, well, Chris didn't need to know about that.)

The first time they kissed, Jeongin stood on his tip-toes to wipe a smear of ink off Hyunjin's cheek— and then stayed there, his lips brushing against Hyunjin's and his thumb still hot against Hyunjin's cheekbone. When he pulled away, it was the first time Hyunjin had ever seen him blush. 

Jeongin's peach hair quickly faded to a whitish-blonde, and Hyunjin helped him dye it cherry red in the bathroom of the apartment he shared with Chris. Felix perched on the bathroom sink, taking photos and laughing every time Hyunjin got dye on the floor and the towels.

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

"I don't want you to go."

They were in bed. Hyunjin's fingers traced the constellation on Jeongin's ribcage— seven stars that made up vulpecula, the 'little fox.' Ever since he'd discovered it and Jeongin had told him what it was called, that had become his nickname for the bright little fox-like boy; his very own constellation that had turned his dark night sky into something beautiful.

"Don't say that," Jeongin said softly. His fingers found Hyunjin's on his skin and their hands interlocked. "You'll make me sad."

_ "I'm _sad."

"I know." Jeongin stroked Hyunjin's knuckles with his thumb. His nails were black matte today. He said he did it to match Hyunjin's tattoos— so he could take a small piece of Hyunjin back with him. It had taken all of Hyunjin's willpower not to cry when Jeongin showed him. "It's not like this is the end, though. It doesn't have to be."

Hyunjin gulped. Was this _ The Talk? _

They had avoided talking about it. Or at least, Hyunjin had avoided it. Jeongin never brought it up either, but Hyunjin didn't know if it was because he didn't care, or because he was just like Hyunjin and was avoiding it on purpose too. 

"What do you mean?" Hyunjin asked, his voice not entirely steady. 

Jeongin looked at him. "I mean… I don't want to go back and just… forget about you."

"That could mean a lot of things." Hyunjin knew his tone had become guarded, and as much as he hated himself for it, he couldn't stop himself. When he felt scared, he tended to get bristly. A textbook case of the porcupine dilemma.

"It could. But it doesn't. It means I want you in my life, hyung."

_ I love him. _

That was crazy. Hyunjin knew it was crazy, but that didn't change the fact that it was true. 

In the past, everyone who was drawn in by his beauty ended up repulsed by his personality, especially when _ this _happened. Hyunjin was clingy; he was self-conscious and quick to assume the worst. So people left him. 

But Jeongin didn't get mad at Hyunjin's mood swings. He didn't let Hyunjin's worried words twist what he wanted to say. 

So, yeah. _ I really fucking love him. _

"Me too," he whispered. His hand clutched Jeongin's desperately tight. "I want you in mine, too."

Smiling, Jeongin pressed a kiss against Hyunjin's forehead. Hyunjin closed his eyes and savored the heat left by Jeongin's lips. "Then we'll make it work."

  
  


**-epilogue-**

_ Incheon Airport, Seoul | 1.5 years later _

Hyunjin clutched his bag closer to his chest, craning his neck and looking over the sea of people in the arrivals terminal to find—

"Hyunjin-hyung!"

_ There. _

Jeongin was standing on his tip-toes, waving at Hyunjin over the arrival barricade. For a brief moment the clouds in the sky shifted and a ray of sunlight hit him just right, illuminating his frizzy pink hair and round glasses. The ring on his left hand— twin to Hyunjin's own— glittered brilliantly in the light and Hyunjin smiled, pushing through the crowd to meet him.

When they finally reached each other, they kissed, right there in the middle of the airport. People stared, but they didn't care. Jeongin beamed up at him and everything was right with the world. 

"Welcome home."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! to whoever submitted this prompt, I hope I brought your idea to life in a way that makes you happy!
> 
> prompt#118  
Person A and person B are both tattoo artists at the same studio, but while person A looks exactly how you'd envision someone in this line of work, large tattoos in visible places and black clothing, person B is smiley, donned in pastel colours, with tiny minimalist tats in discreet places.
> 
> comments & kudos would make me super happy 🖤
> 
> hyunjin tattoo credits: @freeorgy on insta  
innie tattoo credits: @u_ta2t @sisi.lovelove @guseul_tattoo


End file.
